Promotion of diversity, anti-discrimination, inclusion and equal opportunities at workplace is the purpose of more than 7100 petitioners from 16 EU countries who joined the initiative of the Diversity Charter. This will be soon possible in our country as well, since the text of the Diversity Charter in Croatia has already been defined and adopted. Deputy Ombudswoman, Tena Šimonović Einwalter, participated in preparation and presentation of the Charter which took place on 6th September 2017 at the Journalist House in Zagreb.

Citizens from the eastern part of Croatia, in the Vukovar-Srijem County, who feel that their human rights were violated or they were discriminated against, from August 30th until September 1st, 2017 had an opportunity to meet with the Ombudswoman Lora Vidović and submit complaints to her advisers.

People everywhere must be allowed to age with dignity and human rights, stressed the participants of the Eights session of the Open-Ended Working Group of Ageing (OEWG) that took place from 5 to 7 July 2017 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The 8th Session was dedicated to abuse, neglect, violence and age discrimination.

„According to a global study carried out in 28 countries, in 2016, about one in six older persons experienced some form of abuse and estimates suggest that only one in five cases, abuse was actually reported. The reasons for which there is such a high level of unreported violence are multiple and complex, and we know that many victims don't report because they feel ashamed, powerless and fear reprisals, particularly when it comes to domestic violence“, Ombudswoman and Chair of European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) Lora Vidović stated in her speech. She added that national human rights institutions (NHRI) can see directly, through all segments of their works, how much still needs to be done for stronger protection of human rights of elderly, and therefore encourage the states to work towards a convention on the rights of the elderly.

Older persons should be soon granted stronger protection against domestic violence. Namely, they will be explicitly recognized as in need of particular protection within the Act on Protection against Domestic Violence for the first time, and any negligence towards them, like leaving a hardly mobile persons all day long alone or irregular nutrition, should become punishable.

This is only a part of changes which were accepted in the Final proposal of the Act on Protection against Domestic Violence, according to the suggestions made by the Ombudswoman Lora Vidović.

Ombudswoman Lora Vidović and Deputy Ombudswoman Lidija Lukina Kezić participated at the annual European Network of Ombudsmen Conference held in Bruxelles on 19 and 20 June. The conference, organised by the European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly, was dedicated to the fallout for citizen rights from Brexit and from increased ‘populism’ in Europe.

"If 2016 was a year of populism, can 2017 be a year of pushback of populism?" – asked O’Reilly in the opening speech. She emphasised transparency as crucial element in building citizens trust in institutions and their work.